“You look different...” Grace remarked, her eyes scrutinizing me.

I felt exposed to her.

“I feel a bit ill,” I lied. Apparently, bad again, because she gave me a meaningful glare.

“Julie, the last thing you are is sick.”

I looked at each dress one by one, taking extra time, so I didn't have to look directly at Grace.

“It's like something is bothering you, and you're trying to suppress it.”

I paused. “I don't know what you mean. I'm fine.”

“You may be able to pretend to others, but you can't fool me.” Grace looked annoyed. “When you're ready to talk, you know where I am.”

Then she disappeared back into another row.

She was still angry with me. And I seemed to be finding it harder and harder to keep secrets.

Blub.

I let go of the clothes and sat down on the velvet-covered bench in the row, relieved that there was Erik to keep pulling me out of this miserable reality.

I decided to be honest.

And how I was. My heart was racing as soon as I thought about the meeting.

A smile spread across my lips.

My heart gave a strange leap and I took a deep breath.

I had felt so guilty that I could only grant him this wish due to an unfortunate coincidence.

My heart took another leap. And another. The heat in my cheeks was different now. Tingly, new.

His words intensified all my feelings. I was excited and didn't really know what was coming tomorrow. I didn't allow my thoughts to go any further, because then my past threatened to come crashing down on me.

I stared into the corridor, lost in thought.

Tomorrow, everything would change. Tomorrow, I would meet the person who made me reach for the stars when everything around me threatened to pull me down into the depths.

Erik would be part of my reality for a moment. And I knew that it was my responsibility to keep it that way. He wasn't allowed any further into my life than this little piece. Even this one step into my reality was already one step too far.

“Are you coming, Julie?” Larissa peeked around the corner.

I shoved my phone back into my pocket and turned to the dresses one last time. And then I had an idea.

Mayor's office

The mayor stared at the video playing on her computer screen, knowing that DUIO agents would track it down and make it disappear in the next few hours.

She almost swallowed. Something she would never do in front of Gloria.

Instead, she fixed her gaze on the girl, whose olive-green blouse ripped as she transformed into an oversized wolf. A few meters in front of the Senseque was her own daughter, her niece, and Gloria's granddaughter. And Diana's daughter.

Someone had leaked the video to Gloria.

“This is an attack on the Circle and the Councils, and I won't tolerate this any longer!” the head of the Council snapped.

Gloria Westcode stood at the window in a gray trouser suit. She had had her white hair cut just below her chin, which made her features look even sharper. With an iron expression, she stared across at the lawyer's office across the street.

“We don’t have to start a war, Gloria,” the mayor dared to say to the woman from her opposition. “Think of the people of this town.” She gnawed on her lower lip. “Think of your family.”

The head of the Councils wheeled around to face her.

Her staring made the mayor uncomfortable because, as always, it felt like this woman was penetrating her with her icy blue eyes.

“Am I to take from your words that the Circle is not your first priority?”

Panic spread through her. Her sister would have stood up against this woman and risked her life, as reckless as she had been back then. Back then, before she had lost her life because of that very recklessness.

“The Circle comes first,” the mayor reminded herself more than the woman in front of her.

“Good, then don't argue with me, girl,” the head of the Councils snorted. “You're still as naïve as you were back then.” She turned away from her and continued pacing the office. “Yet I thought your sisters were the unreasonable ones.”

The inner tension did not ease. Instead, the knot in her chest tightened further.

“What are you up to?” the mayor asked as Gloria headed for the door at a rapid pace.

The head of the Councils paused in the frame and turned to face the mayor. Her face was an expressionless battlefield. Control, as Gloria always liked to call it. Because if Amara Blair knew anything, it was that behind Gloria's façade, countless storms raged, ready to sweep everything and everyone around her into their doom.

“Vanderwood University has been run by these animals for far too long,” it came coldly from Gloria's thin lips. “It's time for that to change. Someone has to bring order to this place.” The two women's eyes met. “Don't you dare cross the Councils.” A warning. “I'll have your mistakes corrected.” Still, she held her gaze. “Consider this your last chance. Consider yourself lucky that your daughter will most likely gift us with the child from the prophecy.”

Without further ado, Gloria Westcode left the town hall, the reporters leaving her alone, as this noble-looking woman was just one of Blairville's wealthy investors. Little did they know that she was on the verge of controlling this town and would not let up until she owned everything.

The mayor watched as she got into her car and sped out of the center of town. Ravens shot up from the street into the sky, which was becoming increasingly dark.